Madame de Montespan

Françoise Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707), is one of the most famous mistresses of King Louis XIV.

She had eight children with the King. They were brought up by the governess, Madame Scarron, until they were legitimised.

Madame de Montespan stayed at the Château de Maintenon on a number of occasions, and gave birth there to her sixth child, Mademoiselle de Blois, in 1677. In 1691, she retired to Paris, where she lived a devout life; she died in 1707 in Bourbon l’Archambault.